The duel for premier seems to have reached an impasse, and an announcement by Ancestry.ca today could offer an explanation. According to the family history website, Dalton McGuinty and Tim Hudak are tenth cousins through their mothers. The rivals have a common ancestor in Louis Jobidon, their ninth great-grandfather.

“Discovering who is related to whom helps us use the past to better understand the present and prepare for the future,” said Roger Dunbar, the company’s managing director, in a release. So if we could just determine whether grandpa Louis leaned left or right, perhaps Tim and Dalton would yield to seniority and this whole blood feud could be over. Sadly, all the records reveal is that he was originally from France and married Marie Deligny in a Quebec City Catholic church in 1655. Although, given that it was a Catholic church, we’ll be sure to chalk up a few points for family values and faith-based education.

Each provincial leader acknowledged their relation, predictably leveraging it against his opponent. “So you’re telling me the last time we were on the same page was in the 1600s?” asked McGuinty, according to CTV. “Maybe that explains a few things.” As for Hudak, he thinks the premier “must be that high-taxing black sheep we’ve been looking for.”

The announcement is an amusing if naked bit of self promotion from the company, but its commercial still rings true: “You really don’t have to know what you’re looking for.” You never know, you might just be Stephen Harper’s uncle’s college roommate’s half-cousin’s stepmother’s grandson.